JBugs Video Series

Carburetor & Intake Manifold Installation:

Video Overview:

Looking for some tips on replacing your leaking VW Carburetor or rusted intake manifold on your VW Beetle? Follow along with our tech as he shows you how to remove your old air cleaner, carburetor and intake manifold and install new replacements. Our video covers the part numbers and tools we use along the way.



Video Tips:



Disconnect the Negative Side of the Battery:

Disconnecting the Battery
Any time you are working on a major car project, disconnect the battery to prevent a possible electrical fire.



Removing the Carburetor:

Removing the Air Cleaner
Remove the air filter which is clamped to the top of the carburetor. Loosen the clamp and disconnect any breather and vacuum hoses.
Removing Electrical Connections
Disconnect the electrical connections to the idle solenoid and choke element.
Removing Accelerator Cable Barrel Nut
Loosen and remove the barrel nut for the accelerator cable.
Disconnect and Cap Off the Fuel Hose
Disconnect the fuel hose from the carburetor, cap or plug the hose to prevent fuel leaking.
Removing Carburetor Mounting Nuts
Remove the two carburetor to manifold nuts and lift the carburetor up to remove it.



Removing the Intake Manifold:

Note: We are working on a dual port engine so there are steps involved that will only be necessary to a dual port intake manifold. With the exception of the intake manifold boots and clamps, most all of the following processes are the same for a single port engine.
Removing the Intake Manifold Nuts
Disconnect the spark plug wires to gain access to the intake manifold nuts at the heads. Remove the intake manifold nuts.
Loosening the Intake Manifold Boot Clamps
Loosen the intake manifold boot clamps and remove the intake manifold end castings and intake manifold gaskets.
Intake Manifold Center Mount
Some intake manifolds will have a bolt at the center of the manifold holding it in place at the top of the engine case behind the fuel pump. Loosen the nut and bolt.
Unbolt the Heat Risers from the Exhaust
This portion is not shown in the video as the heat riser tubes had been removed by the previous owner.
Unbolt the heat risers from the exhaust ports at the left and right sides.
Remove the Center Section of the Intake Manifold
To remove the intake manifold you will need to either remove the right side pre-heat tube (cut it near the center of the manifold) or remove the generator/alternator. Pull the accelerator guide tube from the shroud. Remove the generator/alternator clamp. Loosen the fan shroud nuts at the left and right sides of the shroud. You can now lift the fan shroud and generator/alternator up enough to pull the intake manifold out. The center section of the intake manifold can now be removed.



Installing the Intake Manifold:

Installing the Center Section of the Intake Manifold
Installation of the manifold is a reverse of the above steps. Put the intake manifold in to place. If your heat riser tubes are still attached to the intake manifold, you will have to lift the generator/alternator up as listed above. Reverse the steps to put the fan shroud and gen/alternator back in place.
Installing the Heat Riser Tubes
If you are installing a new intake manifold, insert heat risers tubes into the bottom the bottom of the intake manifold.
Install Heat Riser Gaskets & Bolts
Install new heat riser gaskets at the exhaust port and loosely bolt the heat riser tubes to the exhaust ports.
Install New Intake Manifold Gaskets
Install new intake manifold gaskets at each head.
Install New Intake Manifold Boots
Install new manifold boots on to the end castings. Slide the boots and end castings into place on the center section of the intake manifold and the intake ports at the head.
Install Intake Manifold Nuts
Install the intake manifold nuts on the intake manifold studs and tighten them.
Tightening Clamps, Center Mount & Heat Risers
Tighten the clamps on the intake manifold boots. Tighten the center mounting bolt for the center mount of the manifold. Tighten the bolts at the heat riser tubes.
Install Spark Plug Wires
The intake manifold installation is now complete. Re-install spark plug wires. The firing order is 1-4-3-2.



Installing the new Carburetor:

Installing a New Carburetor
With a new carburetor base gasket in place, set the carburetor in place on the manifold and tighten the two nuts holding the carburetor to the intake manifold.
Installing a New Fuel Filter & Fuel Hose
Install a new fuel filter and connect the fuel hose.
Connect Barrel Nut, Idle Solenoid, Choke & Vacuum Caps or Hoses
Install the accelerator cable into place in the barrel nut and tighten the barrel nut. Connect the wire from the coil to the idle solenoid and choke element. If you are using a vacuum advance distributor, install the vacuum hose and/or cap off any unused vacuum ports on the carburetor.
Install Air Cleaner & Breather Hose
Install the air cleaner and clamp it down securely. Attach the oil filler breather hose from the air cleaner port to the oil filler. The carburetor installation is now complete. Reconnect the battery and start the engine. Start up may take a few seconds as the fuel pump has to fill the new carburetor. Check all fuel lines for any leaks.Enjoy a job well done.

Video Transcript:

Intro For this video, this portion of our restoration series on our 1969 beetle. We're gonna be replacing the intake manifold and the carburetor. Intake manifold we're replacing because previous owner did not have heat risers going down to the exhaust. Being a single carburetor, which is currently leaking, which is why we're replacing the carburetor. single carburetor centered over the engine when you have air and fuel going down the exhaust port they're gonna actually start to freeze and stick to the walls which can cause hessitation bad fuel economy et cetera et cetera. So we're going to pull off this intake manifold install a new manifold, new carburetor and that's gonna be it for this video Intake Manifold Removal All right to pull off the intake manifold we're going to do a couple things here. Disconnect the spark plug wires so we can get to the intake manifold bolt at the head. Were going to loosen the intake manifold clamps on both sides. Were going to disconnect the manifold from the carburetor, we're going to disconnect the the barrel nut. We'll disconnect the electrical connections from the choke and the idle solenoid. Take off the air cleaner of course and the fuel line. Intake Manifold Installation Alright now that we've got the new intake manifold firmly in place, we've got the heat riser tubes inserted into the manifold. We'll go ahead ready to get all the six millimeter hardware lined up in a to bolt in the heat risers down to the exhaust itself. With the intake manifold loosely bolted up to the heat risers. We'll slide the new intake manifold boot along with the original clamps we got the original end castings we got a new gasket at the head get everything it set in place and loosely mocked up before we go through and start tightening down clamps heat risers and intake manifold bolts. Alright we got the intake manifold, end castings and everything else installed and bolted down. Everything at the head is tight here clamps are tight , hear risers are tight on both sides. So at this point were ready to go ahead and install the carburetor. Alright so this is a EMPI's 34 pict 3 replacement carburetor. Carburetor Installation We've been using these for quite some time now. We've been very happy with them. We've installed new studs, new gasket and we're ready to install it. Just a matter of setting in place and installing the nuts. Barrel nut, we'll cap off the vacuum lines hook up the fuel lines and the idle and choke and she will be ready to go. Alright with the last clamp on the fuel hose here we've replaced the fuel hose we have clamps at the carburetor and we've replaced the fuel filter clams on both sides of that we've got cramps at the fuel pump as well. From the factory Volkswagen did not typically put clamps on the fuel pressure the fuel lines it's not a high pressure system but I like to run clamps just for a little bit of safety. Alright we are all done with the carburetor installation. We've got of course the carburetor is on. We got a new air cleaner on. Oil filler breather hose going from the breather port on the bottom in the air cleaner over to the oil filler, spark plug wires are in place. Vacuum caps are on of course the idle solenoid and the choke are hooked up. The carburetor comes factory tuned and factory set. Shouldn't be much adjustment needed out of the box. In another video later on we will get to tuning and timing as well, as we're probably gonna change distributors, but that would be for another day.